The Sustainable Development Goals in Our Community

Activity Objectives

Students will explore their community to identify three Sustainable Development Goals which are the most important to achieve and gather data on how these Global Goals relate to challenges experienced by community members
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Then, students will work together to brainstorm and implement ideas for how they can help achieve these Global Goals in their community

This activity supports the development of the following social-emotional skills: relationship skills, responsible decision-making, self-awareness, self-management, and social awareness.

Research

‍Ask students to use the handout below to 1) identify three Sustainable Development Goals that are the most important to achieve in their community, 2) gather evidence about how these relate to challenges experienced by community members, and 3) brainstorm ideas for actions that they can take to help achieve them.

To conduct this research, students might go on a “community walk” to gather observations; interview family, school staff, and neighbors; read news articles and books; and reflect on their own experiences.

Activity Handout

Discuss

‍After students complete their research, bring them together for a group discussion and ask the following questions:

Which Global Goals did you identify as being the most important to achieve in our community?
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What evidence did you gather about how these Global Goals are related to challenges experienced by our community members?
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How did you feel when you learned about these challenges?
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Who is impacted by these challenges, and how?
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Do these challenges impact all community members equally? Why or why not?
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What are some actions (small or big!) that we can take as a class to help achieve these Global Goals?
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What support or resources do we need?
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What would our community look like if we achieved these Global Goals?

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Act

Encourage students to agree on 2–3 actions that they can take together, and decide which steps and resources are needed for them to be successful. Consider watching these inspiring videos (Just a Kid, World’s Largest Lesson, Part II) about how children around the world are helping achieve the Global Goals in their community.

Facilitate a live virtual exchange, or use Flipgrid, to invite students to discuss their thoughts and ideas with your Empatico partner class. Students might share about any experiences and observations which led them to identify the three top Sustainable Development Goals, as well as actions that they can take to help achieve these Global Goals. They might even come up with actions they can take together, contributing to their own global partnership to achieve the Global Goals!
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Additional resources:

This activity was created in partnership with the World’s Largest Lesson.

Empatico Exchange

Flipgrid Activity